Although never resolved, the RG-85 case file created by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for Chu You Jee speaks to the “paper sons” phenomenon among Chinese immigrants. “Paper sons” purchased identification papers from someone who was able to legally reside in the United States and made them their own. This situation was common in the early and mid-20^th century when almost all would-be Chinese immigrants were barred from the US. INS investigated people whom they believed came into the country illegally with false papers. In this case, Chu applied for admission at Ellis Island, arguing that his father, Chu Thaun Yuen, was born in the U.S. In this case, the investigators believed that Chu’s real father was his godfather, Mui Chung Sun.  Chu Thaun Yuen was deceased, and his godfather supported Chu and his siblings.

Chu’s story began in December 1933 when he entered the United States and was held at Ellis Island until he was admitted in January 1934.  His file reflects the process that Chinese immigrants underwent to prove that they could legally reside in the US. Investigators–in hopes that the young Chu’s file would reveal his false identity–used a number of tactics to find discrepancies in his family’s immigration story. This file included pictures, interviews, letters, and certificates that documented Chu’s life and his relationship with his father. The investigators also conducted interviews with Chu and his brothers, Chu You Ngun and Chu You Lai, and asked detailed questions about the Chu family and their place of origin. They asked each of them to identify the people in photographs and questioned them about their hometown, Fook Loon Village. The boys stated that their father, Chu Thaun Yuen, died in China in 1921, but was born in the United States. They told investigators that their parent’s had five children, four boys and one girl. Three of the boys legally resided in the US, and two of them lived and worked in a laundry in Alexandria, Virginia that Mui Chung Sun owned. It was common for Chinese to own laundries, and to live and work in the same space.  Although local whites often looked down upon the practice, it made Chinese more financially successful because they were able to save money on housing.

At the end of the investigation, Chu You Jee was granted admittance and, unbeknownst to him, was a citizen. About a decade later in 1943, Chu applied for naturalization through the US Army, stating in a letter that he was unsure whether he was a citizen or not.

Because the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation needed unskilled and semi-skilled laborers to build ships, a large number of men migrated to Alexandria by the late 1910s to work.  This need for labor at the Virginia Shipyard also attracted many male immigrant workers from Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.

The 1920 U.S. Census for Alexandria, Virginia documented Scandinavian-American males who married, but did not live with their families.  Instead these married immigrant men lived with other shipyard laborers in boarding houses.  According to David C. Mauk, author of The Colony that Rose from the Sea, Norwegian Maritime Migration and Community in Brooklyn, 1850-1910, most Norwegian immigrants who immigrated to the U.S in the 1890s “were unmarried, and married men often traveled alone, sending for families later.”¹ It can be argued that many married men lived in Alexandria, while their families stayed behind in their home countries.

Out of the 88 Scandinavian Americans documented in the 1920 US Census in Alexandria, only 24 (or 14%) were children and only 16 (or 18%) were women.  Men made up 68% of the Scandinavian-American population in Alexandria.

The few Scandinavian-American women who lived in Alexandria did not work outside the home.  The average Scandinavian household in Alexandria was based on patriarchal values, meaning the husband worked and the wife stayed home and cared for the children.  The only family that did not fit this typical patriarchal pattern is the Mattonen family.  Hilda Mattonen listed laundress as her occupation.  Hilda Mattonen was the only documented first generation Scandinavian female who reported an occupation.

1920 U.S. Census Data for the Mattonen Family
Name	Relation	Sex	Race	Age	Marital Status	When Immigrated	Birth Place	Mother’s Birthplace	Father’s Birthplace	Occupation	Employer
Mattonen, John	Head	M	W	45	married	1903	Finland	Finland	Finland	riveter	shipyard
Mattonen, Hilda	Wife	F	W	51	married	1908	Finland	Finland	Finland	laundress	Privatefamily
Mattonen, Leonah	Daughter	F	W	13	single	n/a	Ohio	Finland	Finland	n/a	n/a
Mattonen, Hilda	Daughter	F	W	10	single	n/a	Ohio	Finland	Finland	n/a	n/a

 

¹ David C. Mauk, The Colony that Rose from the Sea, Norwegian Maritime Migration and Community in Brooklyn, 1850-1910 (Northfield, IL: The Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1997), 30.